Christmas Miracles

A very merry Christmas and a happy Boxing day to all of you back home. I know you don't celebrate boxing day, but boxing day was yesterday and yesterday is today for all of you, so yay. You can all celebrate by spending too much money. We had the most incredible last few days - Christmas Eve and Christmas and Boxing Day here in Australia were such a blessing. 

Our Christmas Eve was really special. Church was the best - combined 1st and 2nd branches for Sacrament meeting, so the chapel was absolutely packed with Aussies and Chinese alike. S and C and Ren Rong all came, and that was so good. We had a musical devotional for the second hour of church and somehow Mourino and I were roped into all of them except for maybe three. Still, it was a sweet hour. The music really was powerful - there is something special about singing praises to Christ. I hope you all have been singing your hearts out this Christmas season. 

The evening of Christmas Eve, we had dinner at Oli and Mint's house (two of our members). They invited several members of the various Mandarin wards in Melbourne and asked us to bring Ren Rong to have a lesson before we ate. Elder Feng and I didn't prepare (oops) but we went in anyway. We sat down with Ren Rong to discuss gifts of the Spirit when two of the other sisters joined us and hijacked our lesson. I don't remember how it happened, our what any of us said, but all of a sudden, these two sisters were discussing baptismal dates with Ren Rong. Elder Feng and I were a little apprehensive because we knew how much she hates pressure to accept a date - but when these two sisters were talking, there was no pressure. There was no push. It was just two friends helping another plan something they knew she was going to love. We eventually tied it all back together into a cohesive lesson, and Elder Feng invited Ren Rong to give the closing prayer. He asked her to ask Heavenly Father if baptism was for her, and if so, when she should make that step. Elder Feng and I haven't made much progress recently towards baptism, so we were both really hoping she'd pick a day. February. End of January, awesome. Even early March, we didn't care when. She began her prayer, thanking God for the wonderful evening she'd had. We were absolutely dumbfounded when she then asked Him to help her know if this coming Saturday, December 30th, is the day for her. 

She had her baptismal interview yesterday. Passed with flying colors. We picked out the suit she'll wear for the baptism. I cannot express how incredible this is. She is making steps to come unto Christ and towards her eternal family and we couldn't be happier. 

Nothing else in the next few days really compared. Lots of little blessings. Ren Rong is going to be baptized and it's the most incredible thing. 

On an unrelated note, turns out that pretty much all of the baseball fans here in our mission are Yankees fans. This is a problem. Doing our best to convince the Asians that, yes, the KC and the SOX hats are cooler than the NY hats. Slow going, but we're getting there.  

Love you all. Have a lovely new year and I'll look forward to hearing from you all soon. 

Elder Blackhurst

Ni you meiyou huochai jie wo dianhuo?

Merry Christmas to all my dear friends and family! I hope things are going well for all of you back home. We're having a lovely time working with our investigators, teaching about Christ and His birth and all of the wonderful miracles that have followed. This week was full of so many little blessings. I think I promised last week to review last week this week, and I think I'm just going to not and assume that if there's any story you all really need to hear I'll let you all know eventually. 

Let's move on. 

This week, we spent a lot of time contacting lots of people who we hope will eventually meet with us. Lots of texts and phone-calls to old contacts, lots of encouraging people to join us for Christmas. You'd think that people would be more willing to learn about Christ during Christmastime, but not really. But it's okay. We've got a few new people to meet with so we're hoping for new investigators for Christmas. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers. 

Speaking of our investigators, we've still got a solid three. We had a really awkward conversation where we found out L.R.'s name isn't actually L.R., and my dear trainer just misheard it the first time we found out. So R. R. is doing great. S. is great. J. is also great, except that he's going back to China next week, so that isn't so great. I met a young man on the street on Monday named V., and he came back to FHE with us. He didn't seem to have much interest at first, but he texted us this morning asking us to pray for him (we did) and then texted us later telling us he thinks God gave him a miracle. I'm not really sure yet, but you can bet I'll be giving him a call tonight after he finishes his exam to find out. 

Chinese is still great. I've been contemplating what makes a Chinese person a Chinese person, and I've decided it's the slippers they all wear around their houses. I'm going to start wearing them around our house too. Expect fluent Chinese next week. 

I have no explanation for the subject line. Let's just say I learned how to say that this week and let's leave it there. Let your imaginations run wild. 

We got hit by a huge storm the other night. We happened to have a lesson that night. There was no rain when we left the flat, rain as we got out of the car and walked to the park, no rain while we taught, and then it started pouring right as we were finishing to leave. Our poor member who stuck it out and met with us, bless her heart - Melbourne weather is ridiculous. 

Christmas party was last P Day, and that was so fun. We played stupid olympic games where Mourino and I showed the world that we're pretty much the best at everything except for throwing water-balloons straight. 

Thank you all for the ways you're Lighting the World. I'm proud of the work you're doing and encouraging you to keep it up. Excluding the last day, there are 24 ways they suggest. Imagine the change we could all make if we picked one or two a month for a whole year...just a thought.

I'm so grateful for the atonement of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. This week reminding me how important it is that He drives our actions and our work. As we continually repent, as we continually remember His sacrifice, we can obtain His power in our lives. He is the way, the truth, the light. It is only through Him that we return to the Father, only through Him that we can be perfected. I'm grateful for Him, for the greatest gift of His life. May we all make Him the focus of our lives this week. 

Have a merry Christmas, everyone! Be sure to take lots of pictures of the Holiday festivities and share them with me back here. I miss you all. God bless you all!

Elder Blackhurst

Video courtesy of Elder Feng.

Oh, the weather outsiiiide is friiightful....

...because it's too dang hot for Christmastime. Australia has problems.

Hello, everyone! Hope you're having a fantastic Christmas season back in the states. If I'm not mistaken, my dear friends in choir are starting their Christmas concert not too long from now. Best of luck, know that I'm cheering you all on in my heart. There is power to the music - keep on singing loud and strong. 

This week was kinda funny one. In numbers, it looked like this week was pretty pointless. But Elder Feng and I have a lot of potential for the next few weeks. We've got a new set of contacts that might turn into investigators and the few investigators we do have are making good progress. We love them all. Slow and steady, but always sure. It's through slow changes, through small changes, that we learn and grow. 

Speaking of small things, #LighttheWorld is still going on! I'm so very grateful to the six of you who told me how you were lighting the world. As for the rest of you, there's still a week an a half left. I expect some pretty great emails about the miracles you're bringing to pass back home, wherever you are. 

And yes, to all you who are asking. We missionaries are lighting the world. We light the world every day, because we are missionaries. I don't think any of you talked to as many strangers on the 11th as we did, thank you very much. 

This week, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges Elder Biehler, our newest, and Elder Liu while Elder Feng took Elder Ching to go work on an english exam. We had some of the most sweet experiences while out on the streets looking for people to teach. For the first time, it felt, I was able to get through a whole conversation in Chinese and feel totally fine with everything they said. Still not easy, but it comes. Bit by bit. The things we study come up in conversation and we're never left without the things we need that will touch their hearts. I met a mother and her son while GQ'ing - the xiao pengyou was about Will's age and it just made me smile to see them playing together on a warm summer day. I've got their number, I'll be making contact with them soon. I hope I have the chance to share something with them that will change their lives. 

Elder Feng is still awesome. Besides the fact that he made me write vocabulary for an hour yesterday, all is well. We're working hard, learning lots, growing together. I'm honored to work with such a missionary. 

We've got to get out quick this week, so I'll save the good stories from this week for next week. Chinese ward member truth or dare, drunk contacts (I think? or maybe just really weird? We had some adventures this week). Lots of fun. 

Just a simple message this week: in all things we do, may our hearts be focused on Christ. If we put Him first in all things we do, everything we need will fall into place. He is there for us. 

Love you all. Have a blessed week. 

Elder Blackhurst

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Hello, everybody! Hope you're having a fantastic week. Melbourne Mandarin is still keeping on. The work is still moving forward, step by step. We've had a lot of beautiful rain these last few weeks, which was a nice contrast to the sun we've been suffering through. Christmas and Summer are a weird combination, but hey. So it goes. Thank you much for all of the birthday wishes, I got twice as many emails this week as normal. Go figure. Love you all. 

The work has been a little slow, not going to lie. Our investigators are either at home or have some sort of trouble blocking their progression. We're doing our best to help them overcome and find new people to teach, but it certainly isn't coming quickly. That's alright, though. We keep on pressing on and trust that the Lord has prepared people for us to bless.

We got two new missionaries this week - Elder Zhao and Elder Bielher. Elder Zhao has more energy than the rest of the mission put together and probably handed out more LighttheWorld pamphlets than all of us too. Elder Bielher is from Bountiful Utah and reminds me to an absurd degree of Porter, from the height to the way he speaks to the awkward way he stands in front of people. I love them both dearly and am excited to see them grow. Also, you feel better about your Chinese when you aren't the newest one. No worries, to the goldens who ever see this: it will come.

Speaking of Light the World, you all failed this week because none of you told me about what you did to bless other people. C'mon. It's my birthday. Go and serve and then let me know how it went. There still is the promised reward from me and my companion to all who do. 

Last week at church, we had two investigators there, one of which was asleep for 80% of it. During Sunday school, we had a lesson on eternal families, what we look for in a spouse (the ward is mostly young singles, so that wasn't out of the ordinary) and the Law of Chastity. I was mildly confused why every seemed to readily agree that the ideal spouse was someone who was really rich. Turns out the word for "potential" and "money" are very similar. I'm glad that my ward understands that being able to grow is more important than income. 

I did understand completely, however, when our teacher very kindly told everyone that "if they didn't know what the law of Chastity is, they were more than welcome to ask the missionaries after the block". What a fun job it is I have. 

Elder Feng and I have been having a blast. We sing in the car and in the flat and while we're walking and we're off key and it's fantastic. He's an incredible teacher and I'm so blessed to be able to serve with him. He also decided that I would be assigned daily homework of Chinese study, so I've got a quiz to pass every night. Every phrase or word I don't have properly memorized, I have to rewrite ten times out in my journal. Last time, I think I had nearly 250 I had to fix (I'm really not selling him very well, am I? I say "he gives me homework" and most of you probably associate him with the devil). It's been good for my language and progression and I look forward to seeing where I stand at the end of this transfer, come the new year. The other night, I told him the whole plot of The Princess Bride, as I had done with Elder Hu. He too has been shouting "inconceivable" at everything he can and has been misusing words, with the hope that I will respond with the classic Montoya response that got most of your attentions in my email subject line.

If you don't know that reference, my family has failed you and will be treating you to dinner and a movie night whatever time works for you next week. My family isn't ever busy, so feel free to drop in.

Zone conference this week. President Vidmar led a powerful discussion on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My personal study this week has also been focused on reading of the Savior. How blessed we are to have His perfect example. I don't think I can ever emphasize it enough: there is nothing more important than our relationship with Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer and it is through Him all becomes possible. That is the simple message we bring - that He lives and loves us and will take us all the way. 

I love you all. Have a fantastic week and keep those Light the World stories coming in. 

Elder Blackhurst

Please enjoy Elder Feng finding his name and me awkwardly driving.